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DHS encompasses seven agencies, but the department has highlighted three that are seeing a significant uptick in recruitment. Other agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, have not been included in the public comments about a recruitment boom. DHS did not explain why.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said ICE, particularly, will see a manpower boost if Congress passes the legislation that would help fund Trump’s deportation operations.

“The Big Beautiful Bill will allow ICE to hire 10,000 new officers,” Noem said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “ICE currently has 20,000 law-enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices. A larger force will provide ICE agents with the necessary protection so they can continue to carry out removals.”

Certain DHS agencies were largely exempt from the Department of Government Efficiency layoffs and are increasing their workforces at a time when roughly 290,000 federal workers across 15 federal departments were laid off or took buyouts in the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

Two of the DHS agencies hiring in the wake of the DOGE layoffs are law enforcement agencies. Despite the challenges that local and state police departments have had recruiting and retaining employees over the past decade, as public approval ratings have declined, the Border Patrol and Secret Service are the exceptions. More Americans want to serve at the highest levels of law enforcement.

A White House official said the surge of people seeking to join federal police agencies is part of the Trump effect.

“President Trump has tremendous respect and admiration for America’s law enforcement and military. Every policy he supports reflects that,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote in an email. “Men and women across America are excited to sign up and serve the country knowing they have a President who will always have their backs.”

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the Trump administration had empowered the police and military in a way that the previous administration had not.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, our men and women in uniform are respected again and empowered to do their jobs,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “These numbers are a stunning reversal over the past four years, where, under the Biden administration’s all-out assault on law enforcement officers, all three agencies routinely struggled to meet recruiting targets. Now, they are exceeding them.”

However, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said all DHS agencies should be fully staffed given their critical national security missions.

“Every policy we’ve seen from this administration [in] the past six months is glaringly shortsighted. They’ve gotten rid of hundreds of employees at FEMA, which was already short-staffed, and now it’s hurricane season, and they have no plan,” Thompson said in a statement. “They’ve gotten rid of hundreds of employees at [the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] without any rationale — and now Secretary Noem tells us cyberattacks are likely from Iran. She’s spending money she doesn’t have and is set to run out next month. If that happens, I’m afraid the workforce at all components will suffer.”

Border Patrol

Congress requires the Border Patrol to have more than 19,500 agents on its payroll. Retaining agents became more difficult during the Biden administration.

Roughly half of agents on the U.S.-Mexico border were pulled from working in the field to detect covert human and drug smugglers, instead to transport, process, and watch over detained illegal immigrants, because of the number of people illegally crossing the border. Morale dropped among agents, some retiring early or taking other jobs.

The nearly 20,000-strong U.S. Border Patrol lost about a quarter of its workforce in the 3 1/2 years following former President Joe Biden’s election to office in November 2020, the Washington Examiner reported in May 2024.

Twice as many agents chose to retire early compared to the numbers seen during the Obama and first Trump administrations. According to Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), the change in morale is palpable.

“My district spans 4 out of the 5 USBP sectors in Texas and over 800 miles of the southern border,” Gonzales wrote in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “For four years under the Biden administration, Border Patrol’s hands were completely tied. With new leadership in Washington, we’re seeing the complete opposite. Our agents are back in the field and enforcing our laws. It’s a breath of fresh air.”

That precipitous drop in agents under Biden contrasts with the sharp increase in applications that the Border Patrol has seen since Trump took office.

“Since President Trump took office, more Americans have applied to join the Border Patrol than [at] any time in its history,” McLaughlin said.

Between January and May, the Border Patrol received nearly 35,000 applications, up 44% from the same period in 2024. The 35,000 applications are roughly double the Border Patrol’s 19,500 employees.

CBP, the DHS agency that houses the Border Patrol, said in a statement that “it’s not a coincidence that January received the highest number of USBP applicants ever recorded” since the agency’s founding in 1924.

“This historic spike in applicants is a direct reflection of the renewed national commitment to border security under the leadership of President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” CBP said. “The increase in applicants also underscores the public’s confidence in this administration’s strong enforcement priorities and the sense of purpose Americans feel in answering the call to protect the homeland.”

The agency attributed the boost in applications to enhanced outreach, targeting hiring incentives, and growing interest among veterans and law enforcement professionals.

Congress is moving to pass Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” before the August recess. According to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN), the House-passed version of the bill would give CBP $4.1 billion to hire personnel and $2.05 billion for retention bonuses and signing incentives to continue growing the border and customs workforce. The Senate version of the bill includes the same funding totals and items.

“With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, congressional Republicans are funding at least 3,000 new Border Patrol agents, 5,000 new CBP officers, 200 new Air and Marine Operations agents, and 290 support staff. It’s time for the Senate to help us deliver,” Green said.

Secret Service

Almost one year to the day since a lone gunman attempted to assassinate then-presidential candidate Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the federal agency responsible for protecting the president is in a very different situation than last summer.

On July 13, 2024, Trump faced an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. In the days and months following the attempt, members of Congress and outside Homeland Security officials investigated how the Secret Service had failed to protect Trump adequately, leaving Trump supporters angry with how the agency was operating under Biden.

More Americans are signing up to join the agency now that Trump is in office.

“We are seeing a historic surge in applications. Americans want to protect and serve, and we must let them,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.

The Secret Service has seen a significant uptick in the number of people who want the job of protecting Trump and other high-ranking U.S. officials.

The Secret Service comprises 8,200 employees, including 3,800 special agents, nearly 1,600 Uniformed Division officers, and more than 2,700 other technical, professional, and administrative support personnel.

According to the DHS, Secret Service applications surged roughly 250% from Jan. 20 through May this year compared to the same period in 2024. The Secret Service received 30,500 this year.

“This past year, the agency launched a dynamic recruitment strategy aimed at increasing the visibility of agency jobs to audiences with the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the mission,” said Alexi Worley, Secret Service spokeswoman, in an email. “The Secret Service is also committed to creating a more efficient hiring process — not by lowering standards, but by streamlining our business processes.”

Noem canceled all DEI programs and hiring practices at the agency earlier this year.

Coast Guard

The Coast Guard has experienced significant recruiting struggles since 2007. Last year was the first time in 17 years that the military branch met all of its accession goals for active-duty, reserve, enlisted, and officer positions.

According to Lt. Cmdr. Steve Roth, Coast Guard spokesman, this year looks even better.

“In FY 2025, the Coast Guard expects to assess nearly 700 more active-duty enlisted members than the 4,422 assessed in FY 2024,” Roth wrote in an email.

The Coast Guard stood at 40,763 active-duty members as of late June.

Following the Trump administration’s return to Washington earlier this year, it ordered the Coast Guard to ramp up its presence at the maritime border and prioritize interdicting drug and human smuggling.

The Coast Guard has made several seizures of smuggled drugs from South and Central America that each total more than $100 million in narcotics, more than ever seized before.

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“Since January 20th, the Coast Guard has surged assets and tripled our operational presence to continue to secure America’s maritime borders, territorial integrity, and sovereignty,” Roth said. “Through ongoing operations, the Service will detect, deter, and interdict illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and other individuals intent on terrorism or hostile activity before they reach our border.”

The Coast Guard has implemented its People campaign, aiming to build its future workforce by at least 15,000 members by October 2028.